It’s been attracting visitors from across the Land of 10,000 Lakes and the world for over three decades, and now this Minnesota classic has been called the most iconic landmark in the entire state.
This August will mark 34 years that the Mall of America (MOA) has been welcoming visitors, and a lot has changed since then. From its early days as the new kid on the retail block to becoming one of the most-visited tourist attractions in the country, MOA has been a Minnesota icon from the start. And now it’s THE most iconic landmark in the North Star State.
How the Mall of America Became a Minnesota Icon
MOA (which, of course, wasn’t called by that name back then) first opened its doors in Bloomington in August of 1992 on the site where both the Vikings and the Twins used to play– in the old Metropolitan Stadium.
Crews broke ground to start construction on the gigantic shopping center waaay back in 1989, so it was big news in Minnesota when MOA (again, we didn’t call it that back then) opened that late summer in 1992. I was in college at UW-Eau Claire at the time, and remember seeing the coverage of the opening on various Twin Cities TV stations.
Mall of America by the Numbers: 33 Years of Growth
The Mall of America was, of course, the largest shopping mall in total area and the largest in total store vendors in the United States when it opened 33 years ago. MOA says when it opened its doors for the first time on August 11, 1992, 330 stores opened for business, and more than 10,000 employees started their first day of work…